


Serpent and the Crow

by Flightless_corvid



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Closeted Character, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Marijuana, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Underage Drinking, Vietnam War, fighting as a metaphor for love, i will add tags as I post
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:02:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27990453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flightless_corvid/pseuds/Flightless_corvid
Summary: Terry finds out Kreese is homeless. He returns to the valley to help him  on the way he reminisces on the man that means the most to him. Hopefully so he can tell John what he means.
Relationships: John Kreese & Terry Silver, John Kreese/Terry Silver
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	1. Affray

**Author's Note:**

> I’m blaming the CK discord for this one! Terry saves Kreese from homelessness way before he starts to prey on the CK kids. I haven’t ever written Terry or Kreese but wanted to explore their complicated past. Tell me what you think!<3

**The serpent and the Crow Aesop’s fable**

_A crow in great want of food saw a Serpent asleep in a sunny nook, and flying down, greedily seized him. The Serpent, turning about, bit the Crow with a mortal wound. In the agony of death, the bird exclaimed: “O unhappy me! who have found in that which I deemed a happy windfall the source of my destruction.”_

  
**-Desire things you don’t understand and you accept the consequences-**

  
2015\. 

Private jet cruising 41,000 feet over Nevada towards the valley for the first time in years. Champaign and a Cuban cigar, as well as a smattering of aged photos over the tray in front of him. Terry Silver had a lot on his mind. 

He was headed to see his old friend John Kreese. He hadn’t seen him in some years, they seemed to talk less than ever after he offered John a job. Being pushed away by the person who meant the most in his life took a toll. 

He picks up a photo with the year ‘1969’ in the corner. Thumbing softly over the worn edge, it was his favorite photo of them together. They were both smiling, John had his arm slung around Terry’s shoulders. Heads leaned together as they sat on a log that was by camp they use to smoke on. He kept a copy of this in his wallet, it never failed to make it feel better. 

It reminded him of when they use to spend simpler times together, even if it was surrounded by the horrors of war. He still treasured a lot of memories there. 

Vietnam was a mistake. For both of them. Lying about his own age to go early was a mistake. They were different before everything they saw and went through. Now they were just broken and twister versions of who they were. 

A friend let him know that he saw John recently. He had been living in a homeless shelter for a few years. Terry couldn’t even believe it. John was so damned proud that he thought taking Terry’s help was a handout. So he gave Terry a bunch of lies to make him think that he was fine. 

Terry wasn’t fine with it. 

Terry had been with a lot of women and men, he has only been in love once. The man he loved more than anything was homeless. The man that he wanted to give the world literally had nothing now. He felt like it was his fault. 

After he lost the dojo, he refused anymore help. Terry feels like they lost because of his convoluted revenge plan. Now John didn’t even have a home. It shouldn’t have gone this far. John was a hero. He deserved better. 

Terry was determined to make John take help... and admit to him how important he is. Even if it goes badly. He had been a coward about it too long. He needed John to know that he loved him and he needed him in his life again, even if they were just friends. 

* * *

  
1969\. 

  
Age 17. Lying on his application and easily passing for an adult he was in the army. After ranger school and basic training he is assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment as a green beret. The company focused on night patrols. Flushing enemies away from camps and special ops.   
  
Terry left training thinking he was pretty prepared... he was completely wrong. His first week he saw more death and maimed humans than he could even imagine. It was completely overwhelming. All he could do is press forward and try to stay careful. 

Until the first night something went wrong. Deep into the jungle away fron camp they are tracking what they think is one of the enemy tunnels. They are ambushed. It happened instantly, surrounded as men descend upon them. 

Terry gets shot in the side. Pain rips through his side and he crumpled to the ground. At that moment he was convinced he was going to die. He had already seen way better soldiers die from less. As soon as he feels like he is going to black out someone snatches him up and is running. 

He blacks out a couple of times as they head away from the main fray. Every now and then a voice telling him to stay with him. Once he gets a little bit of his wits back he realizes First Lieutenant Kreese is the one hauling him back to camp. 

“Come on kid it’s gonna take some time to get back to camp you have to stay awake for me, ok?”

Terry makes an affirming sound and tries to blink himself more awake. His side is warm with blood and he is trying to focus on Kreese’s voice. In case of attack on patrol they had to take a long way back to not lead anyone back to camp. Unfortunate for Terry. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Terry Silver, sir.”

He laughs and slows down to duck under some lower branches. “No ‘sir’ when you are bleeding out ok? I’m John.”

_John_. John has a very soothing voice and he is strong as hell. He also has impeccable cheekbones and narrow blue eyes that remind him of Clint Eastwood. He tries to focus on that instead of bleeding out. Really it wasn’t a bad distraction. 

“You ain’t exactly 18 are ya?” He says with a raised brow once they are far enough away to be able to slow down a bit. 

Terry tries not to panic, it’s the first time someone had clocked his age. “Didn’t seem to matter to the officers who took my applications.”

John just laughs, “You have a lot of nerve. I like that.”

It made him feel better that he didn’t seem to care. Hopefully he wouldn’t mention it around. But that was the least of his worries at the moment. 

It felt like hours before they made it back, it would take time for the rest of their team to round back as well. John takes Terry into a barrack and lays him down. Digging out a medical kit and a bottle of whiskey. 

“Ok kid what I’m about to do isn’t going to be fun. Drink as much of this you can stomach and call me whatever you want but stay still.” He had a Terry the bottle. He takes a deep breath and starts taking deep swings from the bottle, coughing at the burn. 

After getting off his shirt John puts a hand in the center of his chest and hold a bottle of peroxide over the hole. “Take a deep breath.” He pours the liquid over the wound and Terry arches up against John’s hand with a loud hiss. It felt like his skin was on fire. 

After that he takes a few more swigs and tells John he is ready. Looking away as the man gets out a knife and cleans it. 

Getting a bullet dug out of your side is like torture. It felt like hours of John slicing and prodding at the wound to coax the bullet out. “You made a mistake coming here kid.”

Once he hears the bullet hit the floor he lets go of the breath he had been holding and lets go of a pained relieved sob. Pressing his palms into his eyes hard to try and suppress the tears. 

“Hey, you’re ok.” John reassures softly. Finishing stitching up the wound before applying some bandages. 

Terry wasn’t okay. The carnage he saw this week and getting wounded was too much at the moment. He is hyperventilating and sobbing into his hands when he feels the bed dip beside him and a warm hand on the center of his chest. Rubbing in nonsensical patterns soothingly. 

He looks up to find John looking at him with the saddest look on his face. “Hey kid it’s ok, you’re safe now. Try to breathe.”

Letting go of shuttering breaths between wracking sobs, he tries to focus on the feeling of John’s hand but he feels like he is spiraling. Terry grips John’s forearm, not to stop him, just to ground himself.

Once he starts to calm down and sniffling sadly John tells him to move over. Laying down next to him to continue rubbing Terry’s breast bone, giving him some quiet encouragement. 

“T-thank you John.” The man had no reason to stay and make sure that he was fine. This was the first time since his parents died that he felt like someone cared about him. Thank you didn’t seem good enough. 

John gives him a smile. “No problem Terry.”

They laid there quietly for a while, John maintained contact and it actually did help with his panic attack. He was a nice calm constant in the chaos of the moment. 

After a while John moves to fish a lighter and a silver cigarette case from his coat. He lights a blunt and takes a long drag before handing it to Terry. Exhaling through his nose like a dragon, “Here, this should help.”

Laying there passing the blunt back and fourth as the high sets in was the most normal he had felt in months. 

“Y’know the first month I was here, I saw someone shoot my captain in the face. I was silent for like a week... it was like watching life on a distant tv.” John admits quietly in the darkened bunk. “Guy got away.”

“How did you get through it?”

“Sometimes I’m still getting through it.” John sighs and takes another drag. “Jungle doesn’t show mercy for anyone.”

John stays with him that night. He is there when he wakes up panicked to ease him back to sleep. It was the first time he felt safe here in Vietnam. 

* * *

  
  
After that night they are pretty much inseparable. They had pretty similar taste in movies and music, John was easy to talk too. He was also funny and smart. Always had a good story to tell or wanted to banter. 

Most of all, they watch each other’s backs. He can tell that John is a little overprotective of him. Honestly, it made Terry feel better about being there. It also made him feel a plethora of emotions he couldn’t really explain. 

They start a routine. Eat together, spar together to stay in shape, and when patrol is over they smoke a ton of weed. They had a log that was the smoke spot, a beer bottle at the trunk full of roaches and cigarette butts. 

The time they spend out there is some of Terry’s favorite times of the day. They tell stories, talk about what they miss about home, sing (badly), and sometimes just sit in comfortable silence listening to the sounds of the jungle night. 

He isn’t sure exactly when he fell in love with John, but he remembers a night of just watching him look up at the sky through the thick canopy of trees. Smoke curling around his chiseled features. All he could think about was that there wasn’t anyone in the world like John Kreese. 

Falling in love with John was a lot like fighting him. Hard, fast, and sometimes just plain hurt. Being in love with your best friend as a green beret made things complicated at best. 

John saves Terry more times than he can remember. No matter how wounded he was, John always dragged him out of that dark jungle. He always made sure Terry was alright before he left. John was quite literally his hero. 

Vietnam broke a lot of things in them. Over time they started to change. He started to see less of the John he knew in private, he only let his walls down when they were alone. He was cold to new officers and distant to other people. 

John didn’t want to get hurt again. 

Then a caravan of their men are ambushed and drive right over land mines trying to bring back supplies. Not one survived. 

Most of the men were the last of the friends John came with. It was the first time he saw John really break. 

Seeing the strongest man he had ever met screaming and sobbing on his hands and knees, slamming his fist into the dirt until he is bleeding was horrifying. His chest hurts. He drops down to his level. Terry pries his first out of the ground and grips it against his chest. Other arm around his shoulders, gripping his shirt. 

“I’m so sorry... I’m so sorry.” He didn’t know what to say, nothing he could do or say would bring those men back. His heart was broken seeing John like this. 

  
John wasn’t use to loosing, and in war there is no winning. It was breaking him down. 

John reaches up to grip the sides of Terry’s face, tears still streaming down his cheeks. “Please, you have to promise you will try your damndest not to die kid. I don’t know if I could handle it...”

At this point Terry is crying too, but he may have been the whole time. He nods into his hands, gripping his shoulders. “I promise.”

Once they finally go to bed, Terry wonders if they will ever be alright after all of this. 

If they even make it. 


	2. Strife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1970, Terry continues down memory lane. Remembering the US army karate tournament and things that brought them together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How are y’all feeling about this? Idk why I’m really into this ship rn but it’s getting to me LOL.

  
“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”  
-Sun Tzu

1970\.   
  
  


That year John get promoted to Captain and is awarded the silver star. He looked very handsome in his dress uniform, but his eyes were distant and sad the whole ceremony. He gave people tight polite smiles who congratulated him and avoided as many pleasantries as he could. 

After the ceremony, he confides in Terry that the promotion and the star didn’t mean shit. He lost his friends to get promoted. It all felt like a terrible consolation prize, like what they went through was nothing. 

Terry had a hard time seeing his mentor and closest friend’s morale deteriorating. Even though his own was low. After getting promoted things start to change about John. 

He fights harder. As if that were even possible. He also gets distant more often. Like he is present, but he isn’t there. The doctors tell them it’s normal for soldiers to have dissociative episodes, it doesn’t make Terry worry any less. It also doesn’t make him hurt any less for him. 

John starts to be cold to every new man brought into the company. Often blowing up at people to keep them away. Besides sparring and smoking with Terry, everything else was war. John didn’t want to get close to anyone else, it was too dangerous.   
  


Nothing was more dangerous than weak emotions in the jungle. 

As hard as he tries, John learns very quickly that rage and yelling aren’t enough to push Terry away. If anything, Terry was resilient and stubborn. Most of the time waiting out the man to get out his anger and asking if he felt better afterwards. 

Almost always he answered ‘ _no_.’

Eventually John starts training a new unit hand to hand combat. The style of fighting he learned from a master in Korea. Terry asks specifically to be put in the cobra unit. 

He thinks that John training people to defend themselves in the most dangerous place in the world helped his ‘shell shock.’ He had far less dissociative episodes when he started training everyone. Being Captain and Sensei meant he had to teach people how to survive. So he taught them how to be ruthless. 

Fighting with and next to John was exhilarating, unlike anything else Terry was use too. When they fought it was like it was the only thing happening in the world. It was the only time he felt free. When they fight together against people, it’s always in perfect sync. 

Sparring becomes their pastime. Terry also loves the physical closeness of it. There was something unique about the connection they had when they sparred. A balance that he never had sparring with any one else after. What Terry had in speed, John made up for in reaction time and power. Like a delicate dance that left mottled bruises. 

It got to the point where Terry wanted to fight just to get close. Especially when John was distant. He found that getting punched was way better than being ignored by the only person that mattered. 

Even though he was new to karate, Terry quickly finds that he isn’t just suited for it but that it’s his passion. He feels like John could tell, he imagines he watched himself have a similar revelation. Having another thing they shared only really deepened Terry’s already very complex feelings. 

Making him proud became the most important thing in the world. 

John had become his best friend, his family, his everything. Eventually he realized that even if John never knew how he really felt and he had to hide the fact that he loved him forever; he was still incredibly lucky to have him in his life at all. 

They trained constantly. When they weren’t patrolling, on a away mission, or at their smoke spot; they were sparring. Honestly, it was a wonderful distraction from the reality of the horrors they lived in. 

Evolving their techniques and working on new moves became a way to wind down. They even entered their unit in an upcoming US army Karate tournament. It gave them something to look forward too and work towards. Because the war just seemed to drag on and the more time went by, the less they understood why they were even there. 

Once the tournament rolls around the whole unit is excited. It was probably the best they had felt in a really long time. 

It was also probably the first time John had a real win during his time at war. 

For someone who had been fighting officially less than a year, Terry expected to get knocked out of the running rather fast. Then five matches in he realizes he may be better than he thought. Every time a match is called and he is the winner, he is greeted with the cheer of his team and John’s delighted face. 

Finally he is knocked out in the quarter finals by a guy that had been fighting since he was 11. He remembers his anger and frustration, stalking back to his team with his tail between his legs. Until John grabs his arm and pulls him into a tight hug. 

“Kid that match was amazing!” 

John had no idea how much that even meant at that moment. He felt humiliated and pissed at himself for not fighting harder. John didn’t care that he lost, he cared that he fought his hardest. It’s still a moment he thinks about a lot. 

Watching John fight was really something to behold. No one fought like John. Even the men he trained in his style. Cobra was the only fitting animal to describe him. Strike hard. Strike fast. Strike with purpose. Even his stance resembles a coiled snake. A dangerous predator ready to take down prey. Just as Beautiful. 

Terry has seen a lot of fighters in his time, no one is near as captivating. 

John’s final match lasts the longest, the points stand at 3-3 for what seems like an eternity. The last round he roundhouse kicks the man directly in the chest, causing him to hit the mat cold. 

They announce that John Kreese is the 1970 champion. 

Terry won’t ever forget the unbridled joy and pride on his face. He also won’t forget that he rushed the mat to tackle and hug John. Or how long they let that embrace linger. Even when a crowd of people was there to see. 

  
They all drank and smoked into the night, staying up long after everyone else retired to their bunks. That was the first night it didn’t feel like they were at war. Just friends celebrating a great victory. John smiles the most he had the whole time Terry had known him that night. 

He had a beautiful smile. Spreads wide across his face and makes his eyes look like little half moons, creased softly at the edges. Terry promises himself that he would always try to get John to smile, especially after they made it back home. 

  
He rarely got to see him smile easily anymore. _Sometimes it felt like that real smile was just for him._


	3. Debellatio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I started writing this before we got all the lovely S3 flashbacks.... so I’m going with the narrative I planned. This chap is a lot of introspections, sry. Next chapter I promise some actual progress on their relationship and maybe some old man fluff. 
> 
> c: I’m trash and I love this ship so I hope to make some other Krilver fics as well 
> 
> Hope you guys are good and tell me what you think!

1964\.   
  


The Cobra unit are given more difficult missions the better they do, so the harder they train. Every moment they can, they spend perfecting how to move through the jungle like a predator. War turns men into animals.   
  


You were the prey or the predator.   
  


The more horrors Terry sees or participates in, the less sensitized to it he is. It’s become part of survival. The more ruthless you can force yourself to be, the bigger your chance of survival. There wasn’t winning in war, just surviving. 

You would be surprised what, you would think, was a morally upstanding man would do to survive. 

Terry has been fighting for much less time than most of the other Cobras, he also had a greater track record for getting hurt. So he finds a way to combat the fear of injury: build up a tolerance to pain. He finds he can toughen his own body by hitting objects harder than people. 

Trees, pipes, the side of the barracks, anything that will cause enough damage for him to be able to take more the next time. It is honestly more of glorified form of self-harm, one Terry convinced himself was necessary. 

John has Terry focus on speed and kicks, because it suited his long frame. However, Terry was more interested in putting enemies down hard and efficiently. Terry’s style morphed into one of his own, one that John coin’s Quicksilver. Telling people it was ‘something unique to Terry.’

His own style added another complex layer to John’s already ferocious way of the fist. Terry’s main motive was to incapacitate the enemy as fast as possible.   
  


_If an enemy can’t stand, he can’t fight._   
_If an enemy can’t see, he can’t fight._   
_If an enemy can’t breathe, he can’t fight._

Terry took training as far as he could. Obsessed with the idea of becoming more accurate and deadly. He pushed himself beyond normal limits regularly. Training to break his own body was self-harm that served a purpose and was satisfying. 

There was something thrilling about beating on something until your fists and shins are glowing in your own blood. Every now and then Terry would take it too far, earning him a loud angry scolding and a rather mean cleanup of wounds from John.   
  


  
That wasn’t exactly healthy.   
  


He needed to protect himself, he promised that much to John. 

They kept up a rigorous training schedule, but they still always make time for each other. Without the quiet moments, they may not have fared as well as they did. Not that they fared well at all, lets be honest. 

If anything they just turned into distorted extreme versions of themselves. When you are changed by violence, your morality becomes just as dark of a gray area as your self thoughts. Something they ended up not being able to change by themselves in the ‘real world.’

Terry stayed paranoid and John stayed angry long after the gunshots ended. Even if they made it out with all of their limbs, it didn’t mean there weren’t wounds left over. 

The only normal thing that they had about their lives in Vietnam, was each other. Eating together, smoking, training, or just staying up late talking about noting. It’s the only time they feel kind of normal. It’s the only time Terry sees John disarm himself. Any other moment, they were no better than animals. 

The longer the war drags on, the more it feels like they are just there to get beaten on. The politicians back home made decisions that were hard to understand. It made everything bad that happened feel more heavy and uncalled for. 

It made Terry realize the capacity of human cruelty. The more days pass, the less good he is able to see in humans at all. Everyone had a personal motive or some ideology they could twist to serve any purpose. Even the atrocities of war. You wouldn’t believe what a man driven insane by combat could be proud of. 

The longer you are in a desperate environment full of violence, the more your morality becomes less of an issue. The less you think about killing a man. Cobra code, above all else, was surviving. Sometimes, more often than not, that means someone else had to die. 

Terry realizes that his own faith in human beings as a whole has deteriorated. Seeing the worst of your fellow man, on both sides, changed how you saw people. War made men no better than animals, only with dangerous weapons.   
  


Eat or be eaten. Only the strongest survived. Even then, sometimes you still didn’t survive. 

Things change again one mission one hot July night. No matter how prepared you think you are, it doesn’t make a lick of difference in the jungle. Sometimes it’s just a mission that is a clear loosing situation from the first shot.   
  


Then someone set off a mine. Terry is blown 15 feet into a tree, all he remembers is the sound of the blast and blackness. 

  
He is in a coma for two weeks. Head injury, broken ribs, shrapnel damage, generally in bad shape. Some people say they remember the whole time they were in a coma or they had vivid dreams. The only thing he really remembers is sometimes he felt like he was talking to John. Or maybe John was talking to him. 

  
Honestly, it was mostly a heavy blackened haze. A state he commonly has nightmares about today.   
  


Waking up was it’s own pile of nightmares. Everything hurt, from disuse and from scattered injuries. They had to explain what happened to him probably thirty times the first two hours. 

It doesn’t take long for word of Terry waking up to get back to camp. He wasn’t sure how long it took for John to get to the hospital, since he was so damned high on pain killers. He just remembers being relieved to see him alright. 

John’s expression is tight and he is visibly upset when he gets there. Terry promised he would be careful and that he wouldn’t get hurt. Yet he literally almost died, again. 

John drags a chair over to the bed so he can sit next to Terry, dragging his hand out from under the covers to grasp it. 

“I’m so sorry John.” Terry’s voice is rough and quiet, his throat still hurt from the tube removal. 

“Just don’t ever do that again.” He growls out sadly. It was a tone that broke Terry’s heart. 

They didn’t talk much that night. John kept hold of his hand even when the nurse came to change his IV bag. He had the saddest look in his sky blue eyes the whole time. He could tell John had been scared for him. 

He still feels guilty about that, even decades later.   
  


John wasn’t the same after he woke up.   
  


Neither was Terry.   
  
  


Being close to death changes you, for Terry it wasn’t for the better. He even felt like he was wired differently. It was hard to get used to your whole brain being rearranged. 

Now he realizes his head injuries probably caused lasting brain damage, it made him more impulsive and at times irrational. Causing a lifetime of issues with personal relationships and impulse control (spending, sex, business decisions, drugs, fights, ect). 

Loosing was no longer an option. He no longer cared how he did it, he just needed to survive. Terry trusted people less, became more ruthless. 

Being ruthless carries on throughout the rest of his life. Calculating how to make any situation suit him, every interaction was a chance to find a way to step up. Changing faces to suit the narrative like a chameleon. Everyone was fair game. 

The only time he isn’t trying to get one up on some poor bastard, was when he was with John. He was the only person who knew who Terry was behind all the masks. He found he couldn’t hide that from him, even when he wanted too. 

  
Like Terry felt John was the safest place in the world. 

Recovery was hard, Terry often bursting into fits of spitting anger when he didn’t progress like he wanted. Sometimes when he would get overheated and rage went too far, John would scream at him to shut the fuck up and then talk him down. It was the only thing that made him feel better, it was grounding. 

The reality was John had proven, many times over, that he was the safest place in the world to Terry. John had always been there when he needed him, he never had to ask. He wanted to make sure he did the same for John.   
  


A year later, it’s time to leave Vietnam.   
  


Terry remembers he night before they were shipped back home. Mostly because he was trying to not show everyone he was actually miserable. Everyone else was in a jovial celebratory mood. It just made Terry realize it was the end of literally seeing John every day. 

It honestly felt like he was dying inside. John had become his everything. They spent all their time together, Terry knew that he would miss him. But John had a life outside of this hell hole and now Terry had to figure out his own situation. 

There was no faking around John. He could tell Terry was acting off the entire night. Eventually dragging him off to their trusty log smoke spot for one last blunt before heading home in the morning. It was comforting. 

They spent a lot of good times here between the bad. 

After a while of smoking in relative silence, after a while John nudges Terry’s shoulder with his own. “You know leaving here won’t change that we are still friends right?” 

Terry nods and John wraps an arm around his shoulders. “Cobras forever.”

Terry leans their heads together and exhales a lungful of smoke, looking up at the darkened canopy of the jungle for the last time. Sky sparkling like diamonds beyond the dense foliage just like the night he fell in love with John.   
  
  
Some things never change.

”Cobras forever.”


	4. Rescue mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terry confronts John to take his help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a little more soft after all the sad war stuff. Lol expect a hilarious chapter full of learning to live together, getting therapy, and teaching an old dog gay tricks xD

2015.

Terry stands in front of the homeless shelter with a rock in his gut. He never would have imagined that John would end up another veteran failed by society. In a lot of ways it feels like Terry failed him too. He knew how proud the man was, he should have seen the signs.

He dressed down so he wouldn’t cause a scene. But it takes him a lot longer to head across the street than he expects. He hadn’t seen John in some years, he missed him terribly but he was also bracing himself to see his hero at his lowest. It feels like he swallowed glass.

The lady at the desk was kind enough to tell him where to go. Every hall has a rooms with several beds, all of it is pretty bare. The whole place gives him a horrid cold feeling, John shouldn’t be living here.

Once he finds the room, he sees John sitting on one of the bunks reading a book with a pair of busted glasses perched at the end of his nose. Terry just stands in the doorway until he finally looks up. Terry gives him a weak smile, but John’s eyes look sad when he realizes who it is. Looking down almost ashamed.

“Hey Johnny-boy.” Terry’s voice is more fragile than he wants, but he is having a hard time. This was fucked up. Seeing him here was fucked up.

He comes over to sit next to him on the bed, cringing at the creak the old frame makes. For the first time being around John Kreese, he felt like he didn’t have any words. He had a whole pile of things he wanted to say on the plane ride here, now he couldn’t conjure up anything.

It hurt to see him like this. All he knew was that he had to try and fix it. Even if John didn’t like it.

“Were you gonna tell me?” Terry asks softly, not expecting an answer.

“... I didn’t want you to see me like this.” John sighs, he hadn’t ever seen the man so tired. “The world broke me Terry. I didn’t want you to clean up my messes forever.”

Something in Terry feels like it split in half, he really just didn’t understand. “John, I don’t have family. I only have you. Me helping you isn’t some power play or because I feel like I owe you... I do it because you mean more to me than anyone.”

He reaches out and gives John’s forearm a squeeze. “You took care of me, I just like taking care of you.”

“I can’t ask-“ before John can finish Terry interrupts him.

“Then don’t ask. Just let me help you pack your stuff and come back with me.” Terry gives him a watery pleading smile, “Please.”

The silence is heavy, deafening, and makes Terry more nervous than he had been in years. He couldn’t leave John here, it would tear him apart. It was hard enough seeing him like this.

John eventually gives him a heavy nod, Terry lets go of a relieved sigh and pulls him into a hug. He may have cried a little bit in just sheer relief. All he wanted was to get him away from this horrible place and get him help.

“I missed you Johnny.” Terry can’t bring himself to let go quite yet. Sighing into the man’s shoulder when he hugs him back.

“Missed you too Ter.”

* * *

  
  


They check into a nice boutique hotel downtown, Terry planned for them to stay a few days before they made a plan. Not exactly sure if John would want to live at the property he was currently in, he wanted to give him a choice. He couldn’t assume the man would be fine with ‘shacking up.’

Besides he needed to tell John the whole truth about why this was so important. He wasn’t sure that would go well at all. The idea of loosing him as a friend because of the truth, made him feel sick. He had been a coward about it too long.

They get settled and order room service for dinner. John is pretty quiet, Terry knows that taking help isn’t easy for him. He just doesn’t want him to be ashamed or sad anymore.

“I’m sorry stuff got so fucked up John... you deserve better than that.” He doesn’t respond, but he does let Terry hold his hand while they sit on the couch.

“Look, this may be really weird for you to hear but... I’ve kept it to myself for a really long time. I hope it doesn’t make you hate me.” Terry lets go of a shaky breath. Looking back up at John’s concerned eyes.

“Helping you is so important to me, because I love you.” Terry laughs and winces at the way it sounds coming out of his mouth, eyes watering meanly. He looks away because he can’t bare the confused wide eyed look John has. “I’ve been in love with you since we were in Vietnam.”

John’s silence is painful. Terry had ruined everything and felt like he was spiraling. Loosing John for real was his nightmare.

But John doesn’t let go of his hand, just watches Terry’s pitiful sad face with a gentle expression. “Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice is as soft as his eyes look. Terry is scared it is pity.

“Because I’m a coward... and loosing you as a friend would ruin me. I don’t have anyone else.” He says with a pitiful sniffle. He was pathetic.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere. Ok?” John wraps an arm around Terry’s shoulders and lets him lean into him. Rubbing his back. “You know I couldn’t hate you right? You have always stuck by me, even when I’ve been the worst.”

Terry blinks away tears and chuckles. “You always did the same for me.”

“I will be honest, I don’t know anything about being with a man.” John says frankly, still rubbing between Terry’s shoulder blades. “But you mean a lot to me Terry. You always have.”

“Hell, you flew all this way to save my useless old ass.” He says with a laugh, reaching up to wipe off Terry’s cheek with a thumb.

Terry leans into his hand, trying to contain the mess of emotions rolling around in his guts. He had bottled this up so long that he couldn’t even think straight. John seems to be able to tell that Terry is still spiraling, pulling him into his arms for a firm embrace.

“I love you too Terry.” John presses a kiss to his temple and rocks him a little to keep Terry calm. He just holds him while Terry lets himself fall apart against his shoulder.

It takes Terry some indeterminate amount of time to stop crying, the years of bottled up feelings spilling to the surface. Not exactly the confession he wanted to give, but hearing it back was almost unbelievable. He was so damned convinced that John couldn’t possibly love him back.

Here they are 40-something years later. John is shushing him softly and assuring him that it’s alright, that he loves him.

Terry is glad to shamelessly cling while he calms down. It reminds him of nights in Vietnam when John would lay with him to make him feel better. He missed him terribly. As much as he could be mad at himself for not saying anything sooner, it was worth it to not be a coward finally.

Once room service finally comes Terry has put himself together enough to get the food and get them glasses for wine. Coming back to sit next to John, pleased when he scoots over so he Terry can sit close.

Even if John was just being a good sport about Terry’s affection, he feels pretty thankful he would even consider trying.

After they eat dinner and clear away the tray, they stayed curled up on the couch. Watching the sports highlights for the night, John’s arm wrapped around Terry’s back and hand resting on his hip. It was nice to just be there together.

“Remind me to show you the list of properties I own, you can live wherever you want. I just want to make sure you get doctors you like close.” Terry says offhandedly. Realizing he still needed some kind of plan for John.

“... I’m not living with you?” John actually sounds puzzled.

“I didn’t want to assume you would want too...” Terry expected him to want his own space, but he also expected him to be angry about the love confession. He isn’t sure what he expects anymore.

“I meant what I said.” John pats his hip and squeezes him a little closer. “I think we should give it a try, if you want me around.”

Something about that melts Terry’s heart a little bit. He cups his cheek so he can press their lips together softly, just for a moment. “That’s literally all I want.”

John’s crystalline sky eyes look impossibly soft when they separate. Terry still finds him absolutely gorgeous. There wasn’t anyone out there that stirred him quite like John’s eyes did. How in the world was he lucky enough to get this kind of chance?

“Lets go lay down.” John gives Terry one more squeeze before they get up to get ready for bed. There were two bedrooms in the suite, but John puts his things with Terry’s. He really was going to give this a chance.

It wasn’t the first time they had slept in the same bed. It was however the first time Terry was freely allowed to cuddle up to John without panicking about being ‘too close’ or ‘too much.’ Resting his cheek on John’s shoulder, hand resting on the opposite side of his chest.

John rubs up and down Terry’s spine in lazy nonsensical patterns. It makes his skin tingle pleasantly, makes him feel heavy and warm in John’s arms.

Terry was used to staying up late, letting his manic mind run the show most of the time. It was strange to be so calm, so early. Normally needing to wear himself out to sleep. John had a calming effect on Terry he doesn’t really understand, but it felt good to have a peaceful safe moment together.

Even if things don’t work out, he would always think about moments like this. It was far better than just fantasizing about it. Money can buy you plenty of things, this wasn’t one of them.

Don’t get it twisted, Terry is incredibly materialistic. This was a chance he would give up just about anything for. He had been with some of the most good looking and intelligent people in the world, every single one of them paled in comparison. No one made him feel the same way John did. Not even close.

“Thanks for coming to help me out Terry.” John noses at his forehead a little and presses a kiss there.

“I’m really glad you are coming back with me.” The idea of leaving him behind terrorized him, for lack of a better word. No matter how bad things got in the jungle, John always dragged Terry back safe. This time he got to do some of the dragging, just by plane. “Thanks for giving me a chance.”

John laughs, a good natured light hearted laugh he hasn’t heard in a while. It makes Terry smile. “You are the one giving me a chance Ter.”

“You know even if we don’t work out, I’m going to still make you take my help right?” This Just gets another soft chuckle out of John and an affirming nod. At least he remembers that Terry is stubborn.

Realistically he knows it won’t be easy. At least the healing part and learning to live together part, maybe some the homosexual part. Alright so it won’t be easy or cut and dry. He likes to think any headache would be worth it to have John around.   
  
  


Only time would tell.


	5. Safe Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start out rough for the mean ole snakes. Breaking tension, working things out, and trying to learn to live together. Sounds easier than it is....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y’all!!   
> I’m so glad more people are on board with this ship, because their CHEMISTRY in KK3 is so palpable. 
> 
> Next time: finding therapists, gay sex 101, PTSD healing, and working out some of their bad habits!
> 
> Also here’s the sexy!  
> Love y’all and thank you for the support!

Learning to live together was hard. No matter what Terry said or did, John couldn’t get it through his thick skull that this was now his house too. It felt like the man was constantly walking on eggshells. It makes Terry insanely nervous.

He actually learns a lot about John in a few weeks. Terry had no idea that he could cook and that he preferred to cook most of his meals at home. Insisting going out was for a special occasion.

For the first time... ever he had groceries in his house.

One evening John tells Terry that after his mother died, he took it upon a himself to learn how to cook. The thing that was actually shocking, he was actually a really good cook. Terry can’t cook to save his life. He never had a reason to learn, so he was useless in the kitchen. Relying on personal chefs and ordering in.

John seems to like cooking. Terry often times would work at the kitchen island on his laptop, while the man works on dinner. There was a simple domesticity about it that was pretty endearing. John always seems calm and peaceful in the kitchen.

When they wind down at night, John tends to pick nature and true crime documentaries. Something that was interesting enough to keep Terry’s attention and something he wouldn’t have guessed that he liked. His favorite thing about living with John, is how much he gets to learn about him.

If only he could make the man feel at home. 

Staff tells him that John only really frequents a few rooms when Terry isn’t home. Their bedroom, the sitting room they use, the kitchen, and the gym. He gets that the mansion is a lot bigger than John is used too. But it just feels discouraging, like he wouldn’t be able to be comfortable here. Or even worse, he couldn’t be comfortable with Terry.

The thing that actually worried him, John still lived out of his footlocker like he was in the shelter. Even dutifully returning his toothbrush and toiletries to the footlocker when he was done. Even though his has his own side of the sink, a closet, a set of drawers, and his own side of the bed.

It makes Terry INSANE. It also makes him wildly paranoid. Like John wasn’t sure if this would work and they were on thin ice. Honestly, he was scared that John would just leave. The anxiety that came with the thought of him leaving was too much.

Eventually it’s all too much.

When John is at the grocery store one day, Terry unpacks for him. What he wasn’t ready for is that to make John enraged. Demanding to know why Terry touched his things.

This caused their first real fistfight. Hurtful hateful things were said on both ends and it ended in the most vicious fight Terry had in years. All of their collective emotions of the past few weeks bubbled to the surface.

It was genuinely ugly.

Once they are done beating the ever loving shit out of each other, they sit with their backs on the end of the bed frame. Smattered in mottled still forming bruises and looking fucking ashamed of themselves.

“I’m sorry Johnny... I shouldn’t have touched your things.” Terry offers sadly. He hates physically fighting with John when they were mad at each other, it felt all wrong. “I just want you to feel at home. I don’t want you to leave.”

“Sorry I lashed out.” John reaches out and pets through Terry’s hair, his eyes looked so sad. Terry leans his cheek against John’s shoulder, a bruise burning a little at the contact.

They needed help.

“Can I find us some therapists?” Terry offers gently. Sitting on the floor of their bedroom with them covered in bruises made him realize how much they really didn’t have it together. More than anything he wanted this to work, but John being happy and healthy was more important.

This was anything but healthy.

He knows they both have a lot they need to deal with. Maybe some new coping mechanisms would be nice.

“Yeah. That’s a good idea.” John agrees quietly, still petting through Terry’s hair. It was soothing and comforting.

They sit there quietly for a while. It helps Terry feel a bit better after letting himself absolutely freak out. John seems to be in deep thought, but keeps a hand on Terry.

“Can I be honest?” John rumbles out quietly after a while. Terry looks up at him and puts a hand on his knee, giving him a soft nod.

“It’s hard for me to feel like I belong here... everything is so nice and fancy.” John lets go of a hollow puff of a laugh. “I like being here with you, but when your gone... everything is just too big.”

“Everything here is so high class, I’m just some mangey dog you brought in off the street.” John’s voice is fragile, like the confession was hard.

It breaks Terry’s heart. He felt like an inconsiderate asshole. Of course it’s hard to transition from a homeless shelter to a mansion, he hadn’t thought about how much of an impact it would have on John. Especially his self worth.

Terry still felt like John deserved the world. To him, John was instantly king of the castle. He just needed to find a way to prove it to him. Not all at once, but he wanted him to know how much he really meant.

“I’m so sorry.” Terry pulls him into a hug, wrapping his arms around John’s neck and pressing their foreheads together. “I should have thought about how hard this would be.”

John’s shoulders relax a little under Terry’s embrace. He slips an arm around Terry’s waist to keep him close, letting go of a soft sigh.

“I promise to be home more.” Terry pets through John’s hair, feeling better when the man melts a little under his touch. “Work doesn’t need me that bad.” Besides, John was way more important. Terry may put some thought into retirement. For once, he had a reason to be home.

“I promise to unpack.” John says with a soft smile. It makes Terry smile, it makes his heart warm. It felt like a little victory.

“I’ll go get us some ice packs and a joint, I’m sore.” Terry says with a laugh. “You still hit so hard.”

Before he can get up John tugs him back down into his lap to give him a soft lipped kiss. It melts all of the rest of the edge of his anxiety attack. John’s icy eyes have that incredibly soft expression when they separate. The expression that makes Terry’s heart feel warm.

“I love you.” John’s voice is quiet, as if not to disturb the serenity of the moment. It was the first time he had said it since the day they first said it. Terry would absolutely never tire of hearing it in his velvety low voice.

“I love you too baby.” Terry gives him another kiss, mostly just because he can. 

It takes him a couple of minutes to get up finally, enjoying being held for a moment. He helps John up once he hadfinally righted himself. “Get the bed warm. I’ll be back.”

Terry returns with several ice packs, a king size joint, and a bottle of ibuprofen. Another thing he wouldn’t get tired of seeing John waiting for him to come to bed. Their bed.

Getting in bed and having John scoot over closer so they lay together was like a dream. Even covered in bruises, he was still elated to have John all to himself at night. He tangles their legs together and grabs an ashtray off of the nightstand. Curling into John’s side when he slips his arm around Terry’a shoulders.

Terry’s new favorite pastime was smoking weed in bed with John. It reminded him of simpler times they spent together during the war. It reminds him of falling in love with John under the heavy canopy of the jungle. Just now without all the horrors of war, of course.

He still felt the familiar swell in his heart, passing the joint back and fourth. Watching John exhale lung fulls of smoke and seeing his beautifully sculpted features relax as the high sets in.

One thing never changed, was magnitude of what this man made him feel.

John had no idea how gorgeous he was to Terry. All of those gentle and sweet parts he kept hidden from the world, mostly as self protection, just made him more beautiful. He use to think all of the vicious and powerful parts of John were what made him so attractive.

Terry understands now that the man behind all of the angry armor; the one that carried him back to camp every time or rubbed his chest to calm him when he fell apart, was the John he really loved. That John didn’t get a fair chance in the world. He wanted him to feel safe here, safe enough to really let his guard down.

He hopes that in time, neither of them need the masks or armor anymore.

They could be each other’s safe place.

He still finds some little wonder in such a powerful man that could be so gentle. They may be broken, but there was still little shards of what they use to be in there somewhere. At least he likes to think so.

They may have turned out really fucked up, but he likes to think maybe they have a chance.

After the joint is burned down to the filter, John puts the ashtray on the nightstand. He turns to lay on his side, facing Terry. Wrapping his other arm around his waist and tangling their legs together again.

“I’m sorry I made you feel like I was going to leave.” John rumbles quietly. Rubbing up and down Terry’s side in nonsensical patterns. “I do like being here with you. I’m not good at showing it.”

Terry’s eyes burn a little. He really was afraid of coming home and John being gone. It made him feel less anxious about it to hear that he did like it here. He reaches up and caresses John’s high cheekbone, smiling when the man leans into the touch.

“You being here has been a dream to me for so long.” Terry admits softly. “I just want you to be happy.”

He isn’t sure anyone ever told John that they wanted him to be happy. John’s eyes have a somber almost shy expression. Like he wasn’t sure how to respond.

More than anything, John needed someone truly on his side and to get the love he deserved. He didn’t need to keep up his walls here, he deserved to feel safe. John had been fighting the world too long, even if it took a while, he needed to heal.

They both did.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Waking up after being pummeled on by a rage filled John Kreese was horrible. Everything is sore and he doesn’t have the patience for work. Terry immediately fished his phone out of the sheets and texts his assistant that he is taking a week off. Chucking the phone at the end of the bed when he is done, burying his face back into John’s shoulder.

“You aren’t gettin’ up?” John rumbles, voice rough from sleep.

Terry shakes his head and curls up closer to make his point. “Took a week off.”

He swears he feels John smile against his neck. It made him happy that John wanted him here or that he wanted to be here at all.

They fall back asleep for a few hours, Terry wasn’t use to slow mornings. However, with John there he can see some of the charms. Being at home more wouldn’t be so bad if they got to spend time together.

Eventually he wakes again when he feels John stir, smiling to himself when the man sleepily noses at his forehead. For someone that didn’t know anything about being with men, he could be awfully affectionate. Terry won’t lie, he eats it up.

Terry’s famous greed was now fully focused on getting John’s affection as often as possible. Money can’t buy you moments like this, drugs couldn’t make you feel that good, and no one could make Terry feel this safe.

“Hungry?” John grumbles after a large yawn.

“I could eat.” Terry presses a kiss to John’s chin, humming when he feels him pet through his hair.

“How does mushroom, spinach, bacon, and pepper Frittata sound?” He stretches his legs with a groan.

Terry blinks at him. “Who even are you?” If you told him a couple of weeks ago he would wake up and have John Keese make him a very fancy breakfast, he probably would have hit you for mocking him.

It just makes John laugh, a genuine laugh that actually makes him smile. The smile that spreads wide across his face and makes his bright eyes look like little half moons.

“If I’m gonna live here I have to do something. Short order cook isn’t a bad job.”Hearing John make a joke actually makes him feel better. Since he had been here it seemed really hard for him to be himself.

“You’re like my much sexier Wolfgang Puck.” Terry says with a grin.

It makes John laugh again, even if they really had a fucked up day yesterday, it felt good to be able to not let it fester and still be angry.

“I’ll help, and by help I mean I’ll open a bottle of wine for us and roll a joint.” Terry wasn’t about to get in John’s way, when he can’t even boil an egg. He did however like hanging around John in the kitchen whole he does his thing.

“Deal.” John declares, patting Terry on his hip before sitting up to stretch his arms over his head. Groaning when his back pops loudly. He has a rather impressive purple bruise on his right cheek bone and the left side of his jaw. Sore reminders of how he needed to make a list of therapists.

When Terry sits up he presses a kiss to the corner of John’s lips, rubbing his back. They get up and head to the kitchen. Terry digging a bottle of wine out from the wine cabinet and getting a couple of glasses. John gets everything he needs out and starts cutting vegetables.

After uncorking the bottle he sits at his normal spot on the other side of the kitchen island. Sliding the other glass near the cutting board. John thanks him with a low sound.

Terry likes the easy company. It males him think about all the days he was rushing off to work before John even gets up, realizing what he was missing out on. He would much rather sit here and watch John chop up mushrooms with a peaceful look on his face.

He wonders when the last time John got to cook for himself before he got here. The idea that he was homeless for a while still made Terry sick. How do you even make it right for someone? He just knew that he would never let it happen again.

Even if John didn’t think so yet, he was home. Terry would prove it to him anyway he could. Besides, he also just selfishly wanted him there. He belongs here with someone who cares.

Once the frittata is on the stove cooking for a while John comes over to sit by Terry. Lighting the joint and taking a drag before passing it over. His jaw and cheek still mottled with bruises, a reminder that they needed to work things out.

Terry leans over to kiss the bruise on John’s cheek, before passing the joint back to him. It makes John give him a soft smile that makes his eyes crinkle softly at the corners.

“Thanks for being patient with me.” John says halfway through the blunt. “I doubt that I’m very good boyfriend material.” He chuckles and passes the joint to Terry.

“You cook for me basically every day and you let me lay all over you like a cat, you are probably one of the best relationships I’ve been in.” It was honestly pretty true, everyone he was with wanted him mostly for money. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

John didn’t ever ask for anything. Terry had to ‘surprise’ him with things, much like he always had. He liked giving him nice things, really he deserved to be spoiled. However the man was use to simple means, so because he technically didn’t need anything, he thought that meant he shouldn’t have something better.

‘The old one was fine.’ Is a comment that’s the bane of Terry’s existence. Unless it’s sentimental, it gets upgraded. He does it slowly to not overwhelm him, but he was still working on it.

Terry didn’t want to force anything physical on John. The idea of sex being the thing that scares him off for good really makes him nervous. If he fucked this up, he probably wouldn’t ever really recover.

“Your the only one that doesn’t care how much money I have or who I know.” Terry admits softly. “Your the only who ever cared.”

John doesn’t respond right away. He just reaches out to pet up and down Terry’s spine. Terry feels raw telling him that. He likes to pretend that things don’t affect him, instead letting everything twist up his soul even worse.

“You deserve better than that.” John says firmly. “I’m no prize, but you have always been there for me. I don’t care if you only have a dollar. I just care about you.”

Terry gives him a smile and leans his head on John’s shoulder. Arching a little into the petting. “No amount of money could buy anything that makes me happier than you do. Trust me. I tried.”

John just gives his shoulders a squeeze, leaning their heads together. He lets go of a soft sigh, it gave Terry a small sense of peace. Even if it isn’t easy, maybe they can make it work.

They don’t separate until the timer goes off and John goes to make plates. They eat at the kitchen island, he could get use to more slow mornings at home.

After breakfast John asks if he wants to lightly spar. Even though they were sore from their actual fight, Terry did miss hitting the mat with him. They head to the studio he turned into a little dojo, stretching before finally get up to face each other.

Unlike last night, John is actually smiling. They get into a rhythm, hit, hit, block. Every time they actually land a hit, they get a little more into it. It felt good to spar with John like they used too. They make their way around each other like a dangerous waltz.

They aren’t hitting incredibly hard, just getting their heart rates up mostly. It was light hearted fun, much better than actually wailing on each other angry.

Terry rears back to knee John in the side, the man catches his leg against his body. One hand gripping just below the cleft of his ass and the other arm wrapping around Terry’s waist to pull his body in close. A mischievous smile spread wide across his face when their noses brush together.

“Got ya.”John rumbles softly, moonstone eyes watching him with a gentle playful expression.

That was a LOT for Terry. John had certainly never been this forward or flirty. He is pretty sure he is probably red to the tips of his ears. No one caught him off guard, he was a master manipulator of situations. He was paranoid enough to not let people close enough for that.

Now he literally feels like he is 17 and in the jungle again, he didn’t even know how to react for a moment. Heart slammed up into his throat. Terry loops his arms around John’s neck, giving him a smile and pressing a kiss to the corner of his grin. “You’ve always got me.”

John’s expression softens in a way Terry can’t really explain. Almost in a sad or somber way. He doesn’t release him, just holds him close firmly. He wonders how many people genuinely loved John in his life. Not that Terry had many, he just sees a pang of sadness sometimes behind those eyes. One that’s kind of familiar.

“I love you Johnny-boy.” He tries to give him an encouraging smile, petting through his hair with one hand.

“I love you too.” John bumps his forehead up into Terry’s and gives his waist a squeeze.

Terry wouldn’t ever tell him, but he liked being a little taller than John. He felt like he could just wrap him up perfectly when he is close. It’s always a little victory when he feels him relax into it.

Even if progress was slow, he was always really pleased when things started to click in place. Terry didn’t just want him to be here, he wanted John to to be with him. The more John gives, the more possessive he feels of the man.

Terry knew realistically when this started that it wasn’t guaranteed that he would even be into a homosexual relationship. That didn’t mean he wasn’t so sure that if John left or ended up hating him, it might destroy him.He was used to getting whatever he wanted, but this was different.

It felt like he needed to earn this. If that meant he needed to be patient, he could do that. Besides, him being a coward about his feelings gave him some decades of practice.

It made him think about retirement.

“We should go out tomorrow.” John says after a while. “After our bruises are less dark.” He laughs.

Terry laughs too, they looked awful and the idea their first date would have them littered with bruises was ironically in character for both of them. “I’d like that. Tonight we can order in and raid the wine cellar.”

Doing ‘relationship’ things, even just laying about in the house was a nice change of pace. John was the only person that had the ability to make busy-body Terrance Silver slow down. And he didn’t hate it. If anything it just made him for greedy for John’s attention.

John gives his ass a playful pat, seeming to be completely fine with keeping Terry close for a bit. Like maybe he was just as lonely as Terry. Rocking them a little back and fourth. He hates that John rarely showed this side of himself. The sweet gentle side that didn’t mind that Terry wanted to glob onto him.

One day they would be able to just be each other’s safe place.

* * *

  
  


Later that night they order Indian food and pick out some of the older vintages from the wine cellar. They get into sleep clothes and pile everything up on the bed on some trays. They end up picking Bruce Lee movies for the night.

It was actually a pretty cozy way to spend a night in. After getting thoroughly stoned, they tuck into their very flavorful dinner. It was one of Terry’s go-to takeout food when he was in the mood for spices.

They comment on the fight scenes and debate about other fighting styles. Every now and then John reaches out to rub up and down Terry’s spine or just rest a hand on him. Once they are done eating, they put the trays away and curl up together.

“Bruce Lee is very pretty.” John mentions offhandedly halfway through Enter the Dragon. “I guess I am into some guys.” He chuckles.

“He is gorgeous.” Terry agrees with a snicker.

“I think I’m more into you though.” John says with a smirk. “I guess I like pretty boys.”

Terry can’t even deal with himself when John openly flirts with him. It makes his brain malfunction and his guts twist up. Terry cups the back of his skull to pull him into a soft lipped kiss.

It isn’t long before the movie is forgotten. Lost in a sea of trading lazy kisses and soft touches. Hands wandering up and down, every now and then a gentle squeeze to keep close. Terry loved this, he loved being John’s.

Then Terry feels John’s hard cock against his thigh. That literally makes him weak, rocking his thigh up between John’s legs and letting go of a moan into his mouth.

John lets go of a moan that’s almost a low growl, it makes Terry’s spine tingle all the way down. Terry use to bring home any guy that remotely looked like John, not a single one ever got him this worked up just making out in bed.

Terry was completely under John’s spell, there wasn’t anything else in the world but them in this moment. Rocking and grinding up against each other shamelessly.

John slips a hand down Terry’s pajama pants to get a firm hold on his ass, causing him to arch and moan. He felt like putty in John’s hands.

“Can I touch you?” Terry gasps out when Johnfinds a sensitive spot on his throat.

The man nods, but does not stop the assault on Terry’s throat. Terry slips a hand between them to palm at his engorged cock, feeling it twitch and throb against his hand through the fabric. It gets himsome rather lovely sounds against his skin.

Terry very lewdly laps his palm, enjoying the darkened look in John’s eyes as he watches. Then it disappears beneath the waistband of his pants, softly encircling the thick overly warm cock. John’s Hand kneads his ass greedily as he lets go of a soft gasp.

Thumbing over the silky wet head makes John’s bright eyes to roll back onto his head. A rumbling low moan fills the room and he rocks into the slick palm slowly. He works up and down his quite impressive shaft slowly, paying attention to the crown with every pass. Seeing John relax and start to fall apart was quite literally addictive.

“Grind on me.” John growls out quietly.

You never needed to tell Terry twice. He draws out his own length and presses them together firmly, wrapping his hand loosely around. Terry lets go of a shuttering gasp the second their skin touched.

He can feel every throb and twitch from John’s cock, it makes him insane. His hips rock up gently against John, making a terry moan shamelessly. “Oh fuck that’s good.”

John doesn’t even respond he just pulls him into a messy desperate kiss, grinding up against him eagerly. Greedy hands groping whatever of Terry he can reach. Terry hasn’t been this worked up in years.

“Next time I want you to fuck me.” John growls into Terry’s mouth. Fucking up into Terry’s hand and nipping at his lower lip. “So I know how to make you scream.”

That was quite literally the sexiest thing he has ever heard. Terry’s cock is already leaking all over them and his hand. His hips start to work a little faster and he starts to let go of more strangled sounds.

Terry’s thighs start to shake and John doubles his efforts in fucking up against him. Kneading his thigh and letting go a filthy stream of encouragement. It only takes a few more strokes.

“O-oh fuck Johnny!” Terry cums with a rough convulsion, coating their stomachs and cocks with hot cum. Stroking them both still and he whines and shakes.

John doesn’t take much longer to follow. Making a further mess of their stomachs, letting go of a broken moan. Hips stuttering and tipping his head back with a blissed out open mouth expression that Terry loves.

They take their time coming down and catching their breath. Terry wipes his hand and their stomachs up with his shirt and tosses it off the bed. Immediately curling back up to John.

All of that still seemed a little unreal to Terry, seeing as that was mostly fantasy for him for decades. So he was a little more than smitten.

John doesn’t seem to mind post-coital cuddling, if anything he seems to enjoy it. Terry normally didn’t care for it, mostly because he didn’t care for people he slept this. This was different. He had an inherent need for John’s affection.

Trading lazy kisses and being curled up, safe and sound in their bed, was something he didn’t realize he was missing. Terry missed out on a lot of ‘normal’ relationship things, he didn’t think he cared or wanted any of it. But now he can tell what all the empty parts were.

What he realizes is that John was what was missing.

Before he falls asleep he hears John rumble a soft ‘I love you.’

Terry would do anything to make this work.


End file.
